Method of and apparatus for treating leather



C. L. WHITNEY. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FORITREATING LEATHER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 1. 1920- Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESSES ATTOR N EY c L. WHITNEY. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING LEATHER.

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ATT O R N EY C. L. WHITNEY. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING LEATHER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I 1920.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 C/zarkyl. MENTOR! t i: A I RT 2% ATTO R N EY WITNESSES C. L. WHITNEY.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING LEATHER.

I APPLICATION FILED MAY I, 1920.

1,376,238. Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WITNESSES AT'TORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES L. WHITNEY, 0F CONNEAUT, OHIO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

' Application filed May 1, 1920. Serial No. 378,298.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gremlins L. WHITNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Conneaut, in the county of Ashtabula and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Method of and Apparatus for Treating Leather, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for treating hides and skins.

The object of the invention is to set out and dry leather without tacking it while taking all or nearly all the stretch out of the leather.

A further object is to transfer a hide from a setting-out drum to a drying frame while maintaining the hide in a stretched or tensioned condition.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration ofv the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing in the drawings, but may be changed and modified so long as such changes and modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of the apparatus designed to attain the objects of the present invention, the parts shown including a cylindrical setting-out drum and a reciprocatory table.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same showing the reciprocatory table in another position with the hide transferred from the drum to the table.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the drum in longitudinal section.

Fig. 4 is a transverse cross-section of the drum showing the clamping means in active position.

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the clamping means in releasing position.

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of a portion of the drum and reciprocatory table.

Fig. 7 is a transverse cross-section through the reciprocatory table illustrating the means for raising or lowering the table with respect to the drum.

Fig. 8 is a detail of the raising and lowering means.

Fig. 9 is a top plan View of a hide laid out on a drying frame.

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a truck carrying a plurality of drying frames one on top of the other, each frame holding its hide.

The numeral 11 indicates a base from which rises a frame or support indicated generally by the numeral 13 and joined with an operators platform 14 on one side thereof. Pulleys 15' are supported upon the frame 13, one being an idler pulley and the other a driving pulley for turning a worm 16 (Fig. 2), which meshes with a worm Wheel 17. A shaft 20 rotatable in a hori zontal plane and supported in bearings secured upon the frame 13 is driven by the rotation of the worm wheel 17.

A setting-out drum is mounted axially upon the shaft 20 and is adapted to support a hide during the setting-out process. This drum comprises a pair of end disks 18 and one or more intermediate disks 19 (Fig. 3), which disks are secured in any desirable way upon the shaft 20 so as to turn therewith. Upon the peripheries of the disks 18, 19 are gitudinally of the drum and providing a cylindrical outer surface therefor. The hoops 22 are run through all of the slats 21 (Fig. 4), to hold the same together upon the peripheries of the disks, these hoops exerting a clamping effect upon the slats to hold them together and upon the disks,- there being one of these hoops for each disk.

The cylindrical drum has its outer surface broken by a slot or opening 24, by omitting two or more of the slats 21. A plurality of arms 23 are mounted upon shaft 20 to swing thereon. These arms have a bar 25 on their outer ends extending the entire length of the drum and provided for the purpose of clamping a hide upon the drum during the setting-out process. A spring 28 is secured intermediate the ends of each arm 23 and normally holds the arm in releasing position mounted a plurality of slats 21 running lonas illustrated in Fig. 5. The spring is supported at its other end upon a projection 27 provided on the face of each disk 18, 19. The spring 28 has a normal tendency to expand and move the arm 23 in the direction of an eccentric shaft 30 carrying eccentrics The eccentrics engage with the arms 23 to hold the same in clamping position against the action of spring 28, as seen in Fig. 4.

loose bar 26 runs the entire length of the drum and cooperates with the clamping arms 23 to hold one end of a hide 29 clamped upon the drum. WVhen the clamping arms are moved to releasing position, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the loose bar 26 may fall off its seats upon the disks and carry with it that end of the hide previously clamped.

A pair of rails 12 are-laid beneath the frame and platform to form a track for a travelii'ig table provided for the purpose of peeling the hide off the rotating drum and laying it out in astretched condition on a drying frame carried by the table. The table comprises side pieces 33 carrying axles 34. WVheels 35 properly shaped to travel over the rails 12 are mounted loosely on the axles 34. One end of each axle has a collar 36 secured thereto, and a hand lever 37 integral with or secured to the collar rises above the'table and provides means whereby each axle may be turned on its axis. The several hand levers 37 are connected by a link or bar 38 so that when one hand lever is swung to turn one axle the other hand lev er 'turns therewith. This construction provides a parallelogram"linkage which makes each axle turn an equal distance.

The object of providing means for turning the axles is to adjust the table'proper 39 vertically so as to be properly positioned relatively to the setting-out drum to peel off the hide The upper surface of the table 39 is carried upon longitudinally running supportingpieces 4O towhich castings 41 are secured. Pins 41 or equivalent elements are held upon the castings 41 and provide pivotal connection for eye bolts 42 or equivalent elements. These eye bolts 42 are run through coil springs 46.1 Tension adjusting nuts 44 are provided upon each eye bolt and lock nuts 55 are provided to hold the tension nuts in place. Washers 43 provide means against'which the upper ends of the springs 46 hear. The lower ends of the springs 46 bear against blocks 47 mounte'd'between short arms 49 secured upon the axles 34, there being two of thesearms 49 to each block 47 and the blocks being pivoted upon. the outer ends of said arms. The lower ends of the bolts 42 pass through the blocks 47 and are securedthereto by nuts 48.

.By the construction just described, when the axles 34 are turned by the levers 37, the arms 49 will raise or lower the table ac cording to the direction in which the hand leversare turned.

A truck f50 -mounte d on castersbliis used to carry the drying frames from the machine above described to the drying room. The table will carry a single drying frame at one time, and when the hide has been properly laid out upon this drying frame '52, the latter will be placed upon the truck room. Eachdrying frame acts as a weight to hold the blocksin proper position upon the next lower frame and prevents the hides from losing their stretch during the drying operation. The uppermost frame will not carry a hide. The blocks not only hold the hides in taut condition but act as spacer elements and provide for a free circulation of air between the various drying frames,

as will be understood from an inspection of Fig. 10.

The objects of the invention are attained by the following procedure. The. leather comes from the tanning process in a wet condition. One end'of the wet hide is fastened by the clamping device to the drum which is also wet. either manually or mechanically operated is used to press the leather against the periphery of the drum, smoothing out all the wrinkles and taking nearly all the stretch out of the leather, besides squeezing out part of the moisture. This is done over the entire surface of thefleather. and either the grain side or theiieshside' of the leather maybe outermost. The operator stands 011 the platform 14 and the drum is rotated in the direction indicated. Then stufiing oil is sprinkled over the hide and by Ineansof a brnshthe operator proceeds to work the oil evenly. over the surface of the leather. This latter operation may also be done bymechanical means;

Thenext step is to remove the leather from the drum and place it upon the drying frame which is carried upon the table. The drying frame is first moistened. Then the drum is partly rotated and the traveling table is'inoved over the track until that part of the drum where the leather is clamped and the front end of the table meet at the vertical axis of the driving shaft of the drum, Thetable is then raised by one of the hand levers tobring the drying frame thereon into direct contact with the drum, the springs 46 imparting a pressure between A slicker which may be the drum and the drying frame. One of rests upon the top of the leather and holds it upon the drying frame. The rotation of the drum causes a reciprocation of the traveling table and the hide is peeled off the drum and laid out in a stretched condition upon the wet drying frame. The drying frame is then removed from the table and placed upon a truck and small blocks of wood are placed about the edges of the hide, as has been described. The truck carrying the frames in superimposed relation is then placed in the drying room at a temperature of from 120 degrees to 180 degrees and is kept there until the hides are dry. The leather is then taken off the frames and is ready for further operations.

The principal feature of the invention, and one which seems to be entirely new, is the transference of the leather from the drum to the drying frame without manually handling the leather, without affecting the stretch of the leather and without the employment of tacks or similar fastening elements. As will be readily understood, when tacks are used to hold a hide in a taut condition upon a drying frame the edges of the hide will be rendered unfit for use in the manufacture of leather articles and will have to be cut off of the hide. This waste of the hide amounts to five per cent. or more and its elimination has long been considered a desideratum, Another novel step is that of moistening the drying frame so that the leather will stick thereto and dry in a taut condition with all the stretch taken out. It has been discovered that using the blocks alone will not take the stretch entirely out of the leather. The moistening of the drying frame must be done to obtain the best results and is an important part of the present invention.

In the present process the leather is set out on one surface and is moved from that surface to dry on another surface; The process may be practised on a complete hide or on parts of the hide, the idea being to employ it with all kinds of leather. In the apparatus illustrated to carry out the invention, the table is shown as being reciprocated through the rotation of the drum. It is entirely feasible to provide independent mechanism to actuate the table back and forth.

lVhat is claimed is 1. The method of treating hides and skins which consists in setting out a hide on a drum and mechanically rotating the latter, and then transferring the hide from the drum directly to a movable drying frame, such transference being effected by the relative movement of said drum and frame without manually handling the hide.

2. The method of treating hides and skins which consists in setting out a hide on a drum, and mechanically rotating the latter,

then transferring the hide from the drum directly to a movable drying frame and effecting such transfer by the approach of said drum and frame, the hide being peeled from the drum and dropping upon the frame in spread-out and stretched condition, and maintaining the stretched condition of said hide upon said frame for a period of time.

3. The method of treating hides and skins which consists in setting out a hide on a drum and mechanically rotating the drum, causing a drying frame to be brought into contact with the hide on the drum, releasing the hide from the drum, and actuating the drying frame simultaneously with the drum to peel the hide from the drum.

4:. The method of treating hides and skins which includes setting out a hide on a rotary drum, mechanically peeling the hide off the rotary drum and laying it on a drying frame.

5. The method of treating hides and skins which includes setting out a hide on a substantially wet rotary drum, mechanically peeling the hide off the rotary drum and laying it on a substantially wet drying frame.

6. The method of treating hides and skins which consists in setting out a hide on a rotary drum, mechanically peeling the hide off the rotary drum and laying it on a drying frame, holding the hide on the frame by using elements which frictionally engage but do not perforate the hide, and drying the hide on the frame while maintained by said elements in stretched condition 7 The method of treating hides and skins which consists'in setting out a hide on a rotary drum, peeling the hide off the drum and laying it on a drying frame while maintained in a stretched or tensioned state, and drying it in that state.

8. The method of treating hides and skins which consists in setting out a hide on a rotary drum, peeling the hide off the drum and laying it on awet drying frame while maintained in a stretched or tensioned state, and drying it in that state,

9. The method of treating leather which consists in wetting a rotary drum, clamping one end of a hide on said drum, setting out the hide while the drum is rotated as desired by the operator, releasing the clamped end of the hide, transferring the hide stretched by the setting-out operation to a flat surface while maintaining the stretched condition of the hide, and drying the hide vhile held against contraction on said surace.

1'0. The method of treating leather which consists in wetting a rotary drum, clamping one end of a hide on said drum, setting out the hide while the drum is rotated as desired by the operator, releasing the clamped end of the hide, transferring the hide stretched by the setting-out operation to a flat surface while maintaining the stretched condition of the hide, transferring a portion of the clamping means along with the hide to aid in holding the hide upon the flat surface, and drying the hide while held against contraction on said surface.

11. In an apparatus for setting out and drying tanned hides and skins, a rotary cylindrical support for the setting-out process, a fiat support for the drying process, and means for transferring the hide from the'cylindrical support to the flat support while maintaining the hide in the stretched condition brought about by the setting-out process.

12. In an apparatus for setting out tanned hides and skins, a rotary cylindrical support for a hide for the setting-out process, a fiat support for the drying process, a traveling table movable beneath the cylindrical support, and means to effect a transfer of the hide from the cylindrical support to the fiat support without manually handling the hide.

13. In an apparatus for setting out tanned hides and skins, a rotary cylindrical support for a'hide for the setting-out process, a. flat support for the drying process, a traveling'table movable beneath the cylindrical support, and means to efi'ect a transfer of the hide from the cylindrical support to the flat support without manually handling the hide, said table being reciprocated bythe rotation of the cylindrical support. V

14:. In an apparatus for setting out and drying tanned hides and skins, a rotary cylindrical support for the setting-out process, a flat support for the drying process, a traveling table movable beneath the cylindrical support and means for tIELIlS. ferring the hide from the cylindrical support to the flat support, the flat support being carried on the table, and means for raising and lowering the table to bring it near to the periphery of the cylindrical support whereby the hide may be peeled off the latter and laid out fiat.

15. In an apparatus for settingout and drying tanned hidesand skins, a rotary cylindrical support for the setting-out proc ess, a fiat support for the drying process, clamping means on the cylindrical support for holding one end of the hide, means for transferring the hide from the cylindricalsupport to the flat support while maintain-. ing the .hide in the stretched condition brought about by the setting out process, and means for releasing the clamping means, said clamping means having a part which isremovable from the cylindrical support, saidremovable part carrying with it the end of the hide and drop-ping upon the flat support.

16. In an apparatus for setting out and drying hides and skins comprising a rotary drum having a longitudinal opening, improvement which comprises a clamping means including a loose clamping bar placed revolution of said drum, said clamping.

means including an element which when released is permitted to drop from said drum carrying with it the end of the hide.

18. In an apparatus for setting out and drying tanned hides and skins, a rotary cylindrical drum for the setting out process having an opening extending the length of said drum, a shaft. upon which the drum is mounted and by which it is revolved, an arm mounted on said shaft to swing therewith and housed within the drum, a bar carried by the outer end of the arm and terminatlng at'sald openlng, means for normally urging the bar against one of the walls bounding said opening whereby an edge of a hide may be clamped between saidbar and the drum, and means for automatically releasing said clamping means at a predetermined point in the revolution of said drum. 7

19. In an apparatus for setting out and drying tanned hides and skins, a rotary cylindrical drum for the setting out process, an opening extending the length of said 'drum, a shaft upon which the drum is mounted and by whichit is revolved, an arm mounted on said shaft to swing therewith and housed within the drum, a bar carried by the outer end of the arm and terminating at said opening, means for normally urging'the bar against one of the walls bounding said opening whereby an edge of ahide may be clamped between said bar and the drum, a secondshaft eX- tending longitudinally of the drum and parallel to the drum shaft, an eccentric mount ed on the said second shaft and engageable with said arm, and a handle secured to the second shaft at one end of the drum and outside of the same whereby the eccentric shaft may be rocked to release or actuate the clamping bar. v

20. In an apparatus for setting out and drying tanned hides and skins, comprisinga rotary cylindrical support for the hide for the setting-out process, a drying 7 frame for the drying process, means for bringing the drying frame into contact With the periphery of the drum, and means for transferring the hide from the drum directly t0 the drying frame by the relative movement of said drum and frame Without manually handling the hide.

21. In an apparatus for setting out and drying tanned hides and skins comprising a rotary cylindrical support for the hide 10 for the setting-out process, a drying frame for the drying process, means for bringing said frame and said support into contact at the periphery of said support, and means for peeling the hide from the support and transferring it upon the frame by the movement of one of said elements.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my slgnature.

CHARLES L. WHITNEY. 

